On a rainy Wednesday, a group of students, business people, and faculty members huddled under the awning of Paper Mill, a new food truck at 34th and Market streets. It’s hard to miss the large, pastel colored truck that stands out against the glass and concrete of Drexel’s campus.
Straight from Sydney, Australia, owner Alex Sherack brought food truck to Philly after falling in love with a Philly girl and moving here. Instead of parking on beaches, the truck is now a University City regular on weekdays.
Paper Mill serves “spurritos,” which are spring roll burritos. These are fresh, Asian–inspired burritos in a rice paper wrapper that provides a lighter take on a traditional burrito. The truck also offers a variety of noodle bowls and banh mi. It has two chalkboards with brightly written menus that include things like Thai chicken and sesame tofu, a vegan option. This truck is very multicultural, with Australian roots, too, and is fairly new to Philadelphia. “Our food is fun and fresh, and that's definitely the vibe that we want to go for and it’s reflected in our food,” says Alex.
Photo provided by Paper Mill
We tried the pineapple fiesta spurrito with pork and added avocado (which costs extra, sad!). We opted for the spicy option, which is when the cooks add jalapeño and sriracha to the dish. This spurrito ran us $10, but conveniently they take Venmo. Going in, we didn't know how we would feel about this burrito fusion as others (read: sushi burrito) have flopped, but we ended up loving it. The spiciness was cooled by the fresh mixed greens and avocado while the pork was tender and full of flavor. There was some rice inside but not enough to make the burrito heavy, so you easily avoid that dreaded post–burrito food baby. Included was a pineapple salsa that paired well with the pork, a classic flavor combo. Further, it's sweetness balanced the jalapeños. The rice paper wrapper also provided a novel freshness that is lacking in more traditional burritos.
As we devoured this in class, everyone around us inquired as to what we were eating because of how good it smelled—the group of students now has plans for an outing to the truck this Friday after class. Up next on our to–try list is one of Sherack's personal favorites: the vegan sesame garlic tofu spurrito (that was a mouthful, but our mouth is watering).
Photo provided by Paper Mill
If you want to switch up your food truck game or if you’re bored with your regular old spring rolls and burritos, pop over to Drexel’s campus to grab their lovechild, the spurrito. We'll certainly be going back soon.
